Looking for a good quality 2 – 3 day pack? The Maxpedition Vulture-II might be just what your looking for.

When your looking at backpacks, there seems to be small, medium, large and super large.

Small – good for day hikes and short trips

Medium – good for day hikes or overnight trips

Large – good for 3 – 5 day trips

Super Large – good for 5+ days trips (think expedition)

The problem I have, I need a pack that fits right in-between medium and large. These are the ones where you can pack enough for a 1 – 3 day trip, but not too big or too small.

This medium sized pack is where I’am trying to fit the Maxpedition Vulture-II. I need something for warm / hot weather camping, and just big enough to carry some food, one man tent, rain poncho, hammock, poncho liner,,,, but not too big that I’am tempted to carry gear that is not needed. If your like me, and if there is spare room in your pack, your going to find a way to fill it up. A half full pack just does not look right.

Before a pack is taken out on a hiking or camping trip, it needs to be loaded, tested and checked out. So before my Maxpedition Vulture-II was taken on a real hiking / camping trip, it was loaded up and taken on a trip to the deer camp. Inside the pack I was able to fit – hammock, one man tent, 3 legged stool, couple of MREs, compass, map, and topo map compass.

The 2 complaints that I have about the Vulture-II – it needs a couple of small pouches on the outside of the pack, and I wish it was just a “little” bigger. 2,810 cubic inches is nice, but 3,000+ cubic inches might have been a little better for a 3 day pack.

If you need more room, just add a few extra Maxpedition pouches on the outside of the pack. Even though the pack has a place for a water bladder, I added a mini-rolly polly dump pouch and a Maxpedition water bottle holder. The water bottle holder has an extra pouch built onto it that large enough for a GPS or map compass.